Bowen Goodies

[Kat]

Why are Dr. Seabury Bowen's roots so indistinct?
Is it maybe because his family never bothered to account for their forebears?
Are there Bowen/Miller descendents alive?
Maybe and ad in the local paper would help.

[Gramma]

Actually, the Fall River Historical Society might turn up something.

Gramma

[Allen]

I found the answer to my earlier question about the list of Intentions.

http://north-attleboro.ma.us/clerk/PDF/ ... statistics'

[Kat]

Thanks.

I didn't notice it said PDF in the address, so now I see it's a download.

[nbcatlover]

Hi Allen--good info on the law of Massachusetts, though I didn't see a year when it was passed.

However, in many religions, it was necessary to file your intentions so the banns could be read during services. The time frame varied from weeks to months.

This was still being done locally, when I was a child in the 1950s for a period of three months. This was done so anyone with information of prior marriages and divorces could come forth if they believed the person was not entitled to remarry.

[Allen]

I finally had some luck with the Attleboro Public Library. I did a search on their site under the Claflin family genealogy. I found that they did have some information about Lepha on file. To obtain the information I sent an email to the address listed inquiring as to how I could go about it. All I had to do was send my home mailing address and I received the information in the mail today. The only bad thing about it is that after all that I do not believe that I uncovered anything new. But I will post what I received in the mail today anyway, since I waited so long for it . I also have some inquiries pending with Bristol County about a few different things related to the case. I was informed the last time I called it could take as much as 4-6 weeks?? I still have the same crappy scanner, so I hope this comes out ok. I put a new scanner on my christmas list.

[Kat]

That's pretty good!
The 1989 before Seabury's name is his number in the family count, right, not a date?

I take it they sent you these as xerox and you scanned the xerox?
I would think that book would be considered Reference and not able to *Circulate*?
(I ask, because in Orlando they have *Books By Mail* so I don't know for sure they didn't send you the actual book).

Thanks! Yup, there's Lepha!

[Allen]

Yes, it's a xerox of a xerox. With the way my scanner works I'm surprised it came out as well as it did. It was also free. The library does their research free of charge because they are non profit. All they ask is that you consider a donation. I always donate something for things of that nature. I think if they are kind enough to help me, and by mail no less, I should return the kindness.

[nbcatlover]

Annual Claflin Gathering 2006
July 29, 2006
Mystic Seaport
Mystic, Connecticut

The descendants of Robert Mackclothlan are all online:

http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com/us ... -0001.html

[Allen]

I finally got my reply from Bristol county. I got a death record for Benjamin Bowen listed as age 69 years 3 months and 19 days. His marital status is married. His occupation is listed as farmer, he is listed as living in Rehoboth, and his father's name is Benjamin but there is no mother's name. The cause of death is listed as Apoplexy.

[Allen]

I also got a death record for Sarah Anthony Borden, and for Andrew and Abby Borden.Man, are these hard to read....

[Kat]

I finally got my reply from Bristol county. I got a death record for Benjamin Bowen listed as age 69 years 3 months and 19 days. His marital status is married. His occupation is listed as farmer, he is listed as living in Rehoboth, and his father's name is Benjamin but there is no mother's name. The cause of death is listed as Apoplexy.

Which Benjamin is it and what's the death date?
Thanks!

[Allen]

I finally got my reply from Bristol county. I got a death record for Benjamin Bowen listed as age 69 years 3 months and 19 days. His marital status is married. His occupation is listed as farmer, he is listed as living in Rehoboth, and his father's name is Benjamin but there is no mother's name. The cause of death is listed as Apoplexy.

Which Benjamin is it and what's the death date?
Thanks!

Across the top it says 'Deaths Registered for the town of Attleboro for the year eighteen hundred and seventy nine'. The day is listed as the 28th, but the month is hard to make out. I'm still working on that. After looking it over a little more carefully trying to make out what it says, I does not say he lived in Rehoboth at the time of his death. It states he was born in Rehoboth. It's not a record of death for just Benjamin Borden. It's a list of people who died within a certain year, 1879, in the town of Attleboro. Benjamin's name is included and highlighted by the secretary. I did not receive it from the Bristol County Courthouse. I received it from the Massachussetts Archives in Boston.

I had sent them quite a few inquiries, and a for few of them they were not able to help me. I wish this one were easier to read. I would post them here, but I don't think it would do any good, because they are already hard to read, and my scanner would make them that much more difficult to make out. The terrible scrawl used by the author of the other two would make it hard to read, and the death record for Sarah Anthony Borden that I received is extremely hard to read. The easiest part of hers to read is that she lived at 12 Ferry Street at the time of her death.

And I'm sorry the record I received for Andrew and Abby was not a death record, it's a record of Marriages recorded in 1865. It's number 66 in the book. It says June 6, Andrew J. Borden and Abby D. Gray. Fall River as the residence of each at the time or marriage, ages 42 and 37, he is listed as a merchant, the birthplace of each is Fall River, the names of both of their parents (hard to make out but can be read), what marriage it is for both of them, and the occupation of the person who married them.

[Allen]

If anyone else would like to send some requests for information for records prior to 1896, this is where I sent my requests. I'm getting ready to send a bunch more in the mail tomorrow. If you want to verify the fees, ( it's 50 cents per xeroxed copy, not sure what an official copy costs but I think it's 3.00 per record) you can call (617) 727-7388.

William Francis Galvin
Secretary of the Commonwealth
Massachusetts Archives
220 Morrisey Boulevard
Boston, Massachusetts
02125

[Kat]

Thanks!
According to that Claflin book page you posted that IS Seabury's father and the book says Benjamin died Feb. 28, 1879.

[nbcatlover]

There are supposed to be some church records at Rehoboth, but the earliest I can get there is looking like January.

There are some dates that just don't flow. I have one person (a Benjamin) who may been born in 1732 or 1772 and may have died in 1818 or 1848 which is very confusing. If born in 1772, he may have been brother to Uriah who I have as being born in 1771.

My Benjamin who was father to Seabury is supposedly the son of a Benjamin, but if this other Benjamin was born in 1772 and died in 1818 (instead of 1848), Seabury's Benjamin would only have been 7 and might have been adopted by his uncle (Uriah) which would explain how he could be son of Benjamin and son of Uriah at the same time in different records. Please note: THIS IS JUST A WORKING THEORY--NOT FACT.

Hopefully, I can check out census data, too. That may help sort out some of these families as well.
Since it looks like Sarah and Sally Carpenter are the same person (I was christened Lizzie, I mean, Sally), I can get rid of Sarah as Uriah's first wife and Sally as his second. I don't think they did polygamy in Attleborough.

[Kat]

I am working on another area family and find the father (who I'm pretty sure is real- the names all fit but not the dates)- has his child born when the *man* is only 13. And has the wife as only 5 years old when their child was born.
People can't do math anymore.
But the lineage is consistent- so I guess it's the dates. It's those lousy records of the late 1700's!

[nbcatlover]

I also think that they transcribe old hand-written records incorrectly, Kat. Some of them are a tough read, especially if the ink has begun to fade.

[Allen]

I have found that for the 1880 census Dr. Bowen appears as S.W. Bowen. It would make things even more difficult when trying to trace other family members if they were listed by their initials only in some of the records. I am hoping this isn't the case

[nbcatlover]

I didn't make it to the Trim Genealogy Room at the Goff Library in Rehoboth yet, but they are supposed to have a file that details the 4 different Benjamin Bowens who lived at approximately the same time (one should be his father as noted above, and one may be his grandfather).

Through some family genealogies, I have learned there were probably 2 Uriah Bowen living at the same time, as you go up the ancestral line.

[Kat]

I am working on another area family and find the father (who I'm pretty sure is real- the names all fit but not the dates)- has his child born when the *man* is only 13. And has the wife as only 5 years old when their child was born.
People can't do math anymore.
But the lineage is consistent- so I guess it's the dates. It's those lousy records of the late 1700's!

Plus headstones from the era are hard to read.
But still...Math is math, right?

[nbcatlover]

Well, a 13-year-old father is possible, but a 5-year-old mother does seem problematic to me.

That's a lot of the problem in the Bowen ancestry--the dates just keep contradicting themselves. There's a Uriah Bowen who may or may not be the same Uriah who's married to Sally/Sarah Carpenter with a wife named Esther.

Some lines of early Bowens in New England seemed to have kept slaves and had children by slaves who were named Bowen. These show up in cemetery records which seem to be mostly in the Providence area and are probably not of the Rehoboth/Attleborough Bowens. Thomas Jefferson wasn't the only one with unrecognized progeny however. Lines with mixed blood have a way of being pruned from the family tree in the early genealogical records.

[Allen]

I don't know how much new information this will provide, if any at all, but this is a pdf downloadable page that I found while searching around on the Keeley Library site. This link may already have been posted before, or information already provided from it, if so I apologize. Click on the link, and then when the page opens up, scroll down and click on Fall River: Its Historical, Political, and Social Phases.

http://www.sailsinc.org/durfee/fulltext.htm#books

[Kat]

Thanks!
I had a hard time finding the section so I will copy it here for others.
I've not read the section yet:

A Centennial History of Fall River, Mass. : Comprising a Record of Its Corporate Progress from 1656 to 1876, With Sketches of Its Manufacturing Industries, Local and General Characteristics, Valuable Statistical Tables, etc. / prepared under the direction of a committee of the city government, by Henry H. Earl. -- New York : Atlantic Publishing and Engraving Co., 1877.
    252 p. : ill., map ; 31 cm.
    All files are searchable
    Contents:

* Title page, prefatory material. Fall River : Sketch of Its Origin and Corporate Epochs, p. 1-70 (7,429K)
* Its Natural Advantages
* Cotton Manufactures from 1810-1820
* Cotton Manufactures from 1820-1830
* Cotton Manufactures from 1830-1845
* Cotton Manufactures from 1845-1860
* Cotton Manufactures from 1860-1876
* Growth of the Cotton Industry in America, p. 71-97 (1,990K)
* Machines and Processes of Manufacture, p. 98-111 (1,069K)
* Statistics of Cotton Manufacture in Fall River, p. 112 (73K)
* Organization of Corporations, p. 113-150 (3,198K)
* Sketch of Each Corporation
* Educational, Religious, Municipal and Financial Features of Fall River, p. 151-184 (2,882K)
* Public Library, Churches, Cemeteries, Parks, Drives, Local Nomenclature, Water Works, Fire Department, Banks and Savings Institutions, Custom-House and Post-Office, and City Hall
* Newspapers and Steam Marine, p. 185-197 (1,056K)
* History of Press of Fall River, Steam Marine of Mount Hope Bay
* Fall River: Its Historical, Political, and Social Phases, p. 198-219 (1,709K)
* Reminiscences of Col. Joseph Durfee ; Fall River in the Civil War ; Fall River's "West End" ; Settlement of State Boundaries, 1862 ; Great Fire of July 2, 1843 ; Population of Fall River from 1810-1875 ; Valuations, etc. from 1854-1875

ETC...

[nbcatlover]

Just a point of information to add here regarding the name Leafa, Lepha, Leafee (as in Claflin), etc. Found a new variation today in Laifa used in Maine and an explanation from a genealogist.

They were popular variations of a female name from Puritan times, i.e., Relief.

[Kat]

Kind of like the old name "Comfort?"

We had a great Aunt-in-law whose name was "Cheerful."

[nbcatlover]

I still haven't gotten the names like Wanton or Philander for men. I don't know what they are trying to say here...it doesn't sound very chaste. I know they named kids Hatevil, but Wanton and Philander sound in a category like naming your kid Adulterer.

Even Sonny & Cher went on the side of Chastity!

[Shelley]

Then there's Pardon, Temperance, Prudence, Mercy, Patience, Thankful, Charity, Grace, Faith and Hope- most of whom can be found in Oak Grove!

[nbcatlover]

I'm posting this because it's got "Leafee's" line:

877. LEPHA6 CLAFLIN (SYLVESTER5, NEHEMIAH4, NOAH3, ANTIPAS2, ROBERT (MACKCLOTHAN)1) was born November 28, 1819 in ATTLEBOROUGH, BRISTOL CO., MASSACHUSETTS, and died December 31, 1898 in ATTLEBORO, BRISTOL CO., MASSACHUSETTS. She married BENJAMIN BOWEN February 18, 1838 in ATTLEBORO, BRISTOL CO., MASSACHUSETTS. He died February 28, 1879 in ATTLEBORO, BRISTOL CO., MASSACHUSETTS.

More About BENJAMIN BOWEN and LEPHA CLAFLIN:
Marriage: February 18, 1838, ATTLEBORO, BRISTOL CO., MASSACHUSETTS

Children of LEPHA CLAFLIN and BENJAMIN BOWEN are:
2103 i. SEABURY WARREN7 BOWEN, born July 22, 1840 in ATTLEBORO, BRISTOL CO., MASSACHUSETTS; died in RESIDES AT FALL RIVER, MASS. IN 1897.
2104 ii. HENRY CLARK BOWEN, born October 09, 1843 in ATTLEBORO, BRISTOL CO., MASSACHUSETTS.
2105 iii. ANGENETTE BOWEN, born February 22, 1848 in ATTLEBORO, BRISTOL CO., MASSACHUSETTS.
2106 iv. ELLEN ROSETTA BOWEN, born 1852 in ATTLEBORO, BRISTOL CO., MASSACHUSETTS; died October 19, 1853 in ATTLEBORO, BRISTOL CO., MASSACHUSETTS

.

Source: http://www.familytreemaker.genealogy.co ... -0053.html

Dr. Bowen was a member of Delta Upsilon Fraternity in 1864. Seabury Bowen, Frat Boy. Who knew?

Source: Catalogue of the Delta Upsilon Fraternity
http://www.archive.org/stream/catalogue ... g_djvu.txt

From the Brown Alumni Monthly:

FALL RIVER SONS OF BROWN

The twenty-eighth annual meeting and
dinner of the Sons of Brown of Fall
River and vicinity were held on the even-
ing of Dec. 16 at the Que([ueclian (s.b. Quequechan) Club,
with an attendance of forty-two. The
University was represented by Dean Otis
E. Randall. Other guests included
President Hernion Carey Rumpus of
Tufts College, "84, Professor Walter C.
lironson, "ST, and John R. Diman, '85,
principal of St. George's School at New-
port, who has endowed industrial in-
struction at the McDonough school in
Rill River.

The guests were i*ecei\ ed(sic) and presented
to the members by Dr. Ralph W. Jack-
son, president of the Fall River Brown
Club. After a season of social inter-
course prior to the dinner, a short busi-
ness meeting was held, at which the
following officers were elected : President,
Dr. John H. Lindsey, "92; vice-presi-
dent, William A. Hart, '03 ; treasurer,
Guilford C. Hathaway, "99; secretary,
J. Terence C. McGuire, '12; executive
committee, Preston H. Hood, *12, Frank
T. Albro, "05, and Harry Smalley, "04.

The usual custom of inviting those
members of the present Senior class in
the University who come from Fall Ri\er
was followed, and Carl Terry and Frank
B. Frost were present.

During the dinner silent toasts were
drunk in memory of David F. Slade, '80,
and Benjamin Cook, '68, deceased mem-
bers, and a similar tribute was paid to
the memory of Professor Micoleau of
the University, who was reported to have
lost his life in battle for the Allies.

President Jackson presided at the din-
ner, served on taf)les on which the brown
and white color scheme was preserved by
oak leaves and white carnations. In
front of the toastmaster's place a realis-
tic brown bear was tethered by a leash,
and it growled always at the proper mo-
ment under the direction of its master.

Those present at the dinner were:
Rev. Clarence F. Swift, D. D., Rev. Ev-
erett C. Herrick, Rev. Herman W.
Watjen, Andrew J. Jennings, Prof. Otis
E. Randall, Dr. Ralph W. Jackson,
President Hermon C. Rumpus of Tufts,
Prof. Walter C. Bronson, Rev. John B.
Diman, Hector L. Belisle, Hon. James
M. Morton, Edward S. Adams, Rev.
Gorham Easterbrook, J, Terence C. Mc-
guire, William M. Conroy, William A.
Hart, Preston F. Hood, John P. Gage,
Randall N. Durfee, Dr. John H. Lind-
sey, Clarence E. Bury, Frank T. Albro,
Hon. George Grime, Everett B. Durfee,
Rev. J. Byron Tarney, Henr}- H. Earl,
Dr. Seabury W. Bowen, Edward S.
Thomas, Charles L. Baker, Dr. Arthur
I. Council, Dr. W. Russell MacAusland,
H. C. Rumpus, Jr., William T, Pear-
son, Eric P. Jackson, Dr. Eugene A.
McCarthy, Frank B. Prost, Carl A.
Terry, Augustus J. Wood, Harr}- Smal-
ley, Irani N. Smith, Joseph D. Milne
and William H. Beattie.

Source: http://www.archive.org/stream/brownalum ... w_djvu.txt

Remember trying to track down a "Uriel Bowen" ancester? Check this out:

Visitors are welcome year round to the gardens, greenhouses, library, Tea Room and shop located on the 18th century Uriel Bowen homestead on the Attleboro/Seekonk town line. As Judy's much loved Aunt Marge says "Come early, stay late!"

Source: Seven Arrows Farm
http://www.sevenarrowsfarm.com/

[Allen]

I've found that his name is evidently spelled Sebury W. Bowen on his original birth record. I called the Attleboro Town Hall today and spoke with someone who deals with vital records, they checked their book and confirmed this for me. There is no actual birth certificate the woman informed me, only what is entered into their book. They stated some of the available information that was entered and it says the father was a farmer and he was born as Sebury W. Bowen on July 22, 1840. It's 20 cents a page for me to obtain a copy and the front page as well. Not too shabby

[Lizbeth]

I'm a believer in past lives & I have little doubt I found mine as Lizzie, my first Love & only true love was Seabury. He looks identical and he was the oldest born out of 2 boys. He was by far the more intelligent & advanced of the 2 but had some misfortunes which seen him pass on from morpheine abuse. He came from very good parents and his father is & inventor who designed a syringe that can't be used twice and a portable sugar mill to feed & fuel 3rd world countries. His mother a banker who told me once her 2nd son named Benjamin who left Australia aged 20 to study to be a Doctor & recently has become a hot shot anethiesiest in London, was her soulmate. When I first got told about my past life as Lizzie last year I had not heard of her, but as soon as saw a picture of Seabury, I didn't know who he was and thought for ages he was Lizzie's half brother who did the murders , I thought it was a picture of my first love taken in Victorian times. We had a child in 2000 I named Noah. Leafas brothers name.

[mbhenty]

In reference to Allen's post above.

The name 'Sebury' in the Attleboro Town Hall records is probably spelled wrong. The formal name for Bowen is 'Seabury'.

I own a prized book which was once owned by the Bowen family and Seabury's name is written in it, by Seabury or his wife, and is spelled as Seabury.

(A similar mistake is in the 1963 fall river directory where it lists my mother as Lola instead of her real name which was 'Laura".)

Public records are riddled with errors.

[twinsrwe]

Wow, MB, thank you for this enlightening information, which definitely confirms the correct spelling of his name. What a treasure you have there; a book owned by the Bowen family!

Dr. Bowen's find-a-grave page has his name spelled as 'Seabury', as does his gravestone:

99498258_1399922005.jpg

Source: http://tinyurl.com/y78hsry3

We also know that there are gravestones and monuments which have names incorrectly spelled, such as Lizzie's name on the family monument:

bordenlizzie2.jpg

However, the book you now own, which was once owned by the Bowen family, is confirmation of the spelling, with a doubt!

[mbhenty]

Yes Twins.

The Bowen book in my Lizzie collection is probably the most valuable book I own in that specific category or collection.

It's the Bowen family bible and records his marriage.... written in by Seabury or his wife and displaying their names and date. Cool item.

[twinsrwe]

Wow, you really have a gold mine of a book there, MB. I have my maternal grandmother's Bible and it is the most valuable of all the books I own. Families back in the 1800s recorded marriages, births and deaths. Families today, don't seem to have the same inclination as their ancestors to keep such records. It's very sad really.